What the claim depends on

Deuteronomy 18 does not independently identify Muhammad. Its immediate setting points to a prophet from Israel who speaks God’s message to Israel. Muslims can propose a further application to Muhammad, but that requires an argument beyond the passage’s own identifying details. Acts 3 identifies the promise with Jesus; Christians who accept the apostolic witness regard him as its fulfillment. That Christian claim also involves accepting a further theological interpretation.

Why, then, do Muslims appeal to this passage? The Qur’an says that the messenger is described in the Torah and Gospel (7:157), compares Muhammad’s mission with the messenger sent to Pharaoh (73:15), and presents Jesus announcing a messenger called Ahmad (61:6). None of these verses names Deuteronomy 18. They supply an Islamic reason to look for a prediction; they do not settle where it is found.

Imam Mufti’s explanation on IslamReligion joins three arguments: Muhammad resembles Moses, comes from Israel’s Abrahamic relatives through Ishmael, and delivers God’s words. The comparison deserves a serious hearing. Moses and Muhammad are both understood in their traditions as leaders who brought divine law and organized a community. Those similarities matter more than a list of ordinary life events.

Read the promise with its explanation

Deuteronomy 18:9–19 answers a practical question: where should Israel turn for guidance instead of divination? Moses recalls Horeb, where the people feared hearing God’s voice and asked for a mediator. God promises a prophet who will speak what God commands. The resemblance explained here is an authorized messenger through whom the people can hear God.

Verse 15 places the prophet among the people Moses is addressing. Verse 18 repeats the promise rather than starting an unrelated prediction about another nation. The nearby royal law helps: Deuteronomy 17:15 allows a king from the people’s brothers and excludes a foreigner. This supports an Israelite reading here; it is a contextual argument, not a rule that God can never send a non-Israelite prophet.

Can brothers include another people?

Yes. Deuteronomy 2:4 and 2:8 call Esau’s descendants Israel’s brothers. It would therefore be wrong to claim that the word always means fellow Israelites. This gives a Muslim reader a real objection to an absolute exclusion of related peoples.

But a possible meaning is not yet the meaning in this sentence. Chapter 2 names Esau’s descendants; chapter 18 speaks of someone from within the community being addressed. Even granting the Muslim appeal to Ishmaelite kinship, neither Ishmael nor Muhammad is named here. The argument still needs to explain why the broader relationship should override the immediate setting.

Deuteronomy 18:9–22 — World English Bible · Imam Mufti, Bible Prophecies of Muhammad, part 2

Resemblance is not a unique identification

Lawgiving and community leadership make the Moses–Muhammad comparison meaningful. Yet the passage does not say that the promised prophet must repeat every part of Moses’ public career. It explains the likeness by God’s message and the people’s obligation to listen. Jeremiah 1:9 also describes God putting words in a prophet’s mouth. That feature alone cannot distinguish Muhammad from other prophets. The combined parallels can be suggestive even to an outsider, but they still do not explain why the promise locates the spokesman within the community addressed.

The promise also provides for guidance after Moses; it need not be a portrait of only one later individual. At the same time, Deuteronomy 34:10–12 says no prophet like Moses had arisen in Israel, emphasizing his exceptional relationship with God and deeds. Continuing prophetic ministry and hope for an exceptional prophet can belong together. Neither observation, by itself, names Muhammad.

Deuteronomy 18:9–22 — World English Bible

Why Christians hear a call to Jesus

Acts 3:19–26 gives a positive Christian reading rather than merely rejecting a Muslim one. Peter calls his hearers to turn to God, names Jesus, quotes Moses’ promise, and describes blessing through God’s servant. The connection concerns hearing God and being turned from evil. It is not a competition over which person has the longest list of biographical similarities to Moses.

Acts also speaks of Jesus’ future return and restoration. That future hope does not introduce Muhammad as a different prophet between Jesus’ departure and return: the surrounding speech names Jesus and calls the present audience to respond. This is evidence of the New Testament’s interpretation. Accepting its full theological truth requires examining its witness to Jesus, not merely noticing the quotation.

What follows for the search

A Muslim may reply that God intended an additional fulfillment in Muhammad, or that the Qur’an authoritatively corrects the reading of earlier scripture. That is a coherent kind of religious claim to investigate. It is different from showing that Deuteronomy, without first accepting the Qur’an, independently establishes Muhammad’s identity. Using the Qur’an to supply that identity cannot also make the passage independent proof of the Qur’an.

The passage therefore gives insufficient grounds for this particular biblical proof of Muhammad. It also gives a concrete reason to examine the biblical account positively: Acts connects Moses’ promise with Jesus’ call to repentance and God’s blessing. Read that whole speech and ask whether its account of Jesus deserves trust. A failed identification of Muhammad does not prove all Christianity, but it removes a reason to bypass what the Bible itself says about Jesus.

Deuteronomy 18:9–22 — World English Bible · Acts 3:12–26 — World English Bible · Qur’an 7:157 — The Clear Quran, Mustafa Khattab